Ikebana in Phoenix

David Payne opened Payne and Morrison Florists in 1964 and shortly thereafter his interest in the Ikebana style began. For those of you that are not familiar with Ikebana it is a Japanese style of flower design. It developed from a need to show ones faith in heaven by offering arranged flowers at the temple. There are three main lines that represent heaven, man and earth. The use of form, rhythm, color and texture guide how the three main lines are arranged. Although there are strict guidelines to Ikebana, over the centuries many sub-styles have developed to allow broader expression. Windblown, Floating and Freestyle are a few of the sub-styles that have become popular. David heard of a class for florists in Phoenix being taught on Japanese design. He signed himself up and “arm-twisted” his designers into attending. They turned out to be seven of the ten students. Dave was the only student to continue after the first unit. He eventually became an instructor himself and over the years has helped develop the Ikebana culture in Arizona. He even designed the Ikebana displays at the Phoenix Art Museum for many years.

Today Payne and Morrison Florists remains one of the best Phoenix area flower shops to order Ikebana arrangements from. You can find a “freestyle” arrangement on the web site now but soon there will be a tab just for Ikebana.

Please stop by Payne and Morrison Florists in Phoenix or go to http://www.payneandmorrison.com/ .

3 Wedding Saturday

This last weekend we did three weddings at Payne and Morrison Florists. They were all very distinct from each other and we all had our favorite for different reasons. I decided I would post the pictures for everyone to see and find out what other people outside of the shop thought.

First is the classic off-white wedding.

The bride carried these roses with stephanotis and eucalyptus filler.

Next is more of a country style cascading mix of flowers: hydrangeas, calla lilies, yellow gerbera daisies and ivy filler.

Last, we have the modern but simple hot pink roses with stephanotis, eucalyptus and lemon filler.

Please post a comment to let us know which one you like best. Thank you for your time and stop by Payne and Morrison Florists in Phoenix, Arizona or visit http://www.payneandmorrison.com/ .

Summer Flowers

As summer settles in around Payne and Morrison Florists in Phoenix we can’t help but think about vacation. Maybe it’s the 110 plus temperatures that make trips from the past sneak into your head.
Are your favorite memories of vacation of the beach? Thinking about the sun, the sand, the sea breeze and all the different flowers up and down the coast?
Or do you think back on the countryside? Rolling hills covered in grass and wild flowers. All of the friends and family that you love to visit when you go back.

No? Well, the tropics must be your taste. Where dressing up means a new swimsuit, roughing it means finding new trails through the jungle in a Jeep and working for dinner means snorkeling all day.

No matter what your best memories are of summer vacation you can have a little reminder of it around your house. Just stop by your local florist and let a designer custom build you a vacation style arrangement. Or, you can send a little vacation to someone near or far with a beautiful fresh flower bouquet.
Please stop by Payne and Morrison Florists in Phoenix, Arizona or visit http://www.payneandmorrison.com/ .

Father's Day Gifts

If you haven’t found that perfect gift for dad this year go to your local florist. It is so easy find a gift for your father when you talk to a designer. You will be surprised by the options you find. Gift baskets, plants and flowers can be customized for any taste and to meet any budget.
Gift baskets are always good for Father’s Day. A basket with dads’ favorite food and snacks are the easiest route to take but there are other options. Take in your own container like a lunch box, ice chest or tailgate grill, and have the florist fill it with gifts that fit a theme like golf or grilling. You can even pick out a custom container like an older body style truck or root beer mug at the flower shop. Whatever you pick for a gift basket your dad will love it because it will have a personal touch to it.
Plants are also a great choice. Plants come in all sizes and price ranges. You can keep it simple by picking out a few small plants for a dish garden or send a large floor plant in a nice ceramic pot. You can also get creative with something like a baseball container with a plant in it (like an ivy for a cubs fan) to put in dads office or game room.
Of course you can always use your local flower shop to send dad flowers. This is quite possibly your easiest option. Just let your florist know what your dad is into, like baseball, bar-b-q, golfing and tell them how much you want to put into the flowers. The designer will take care of everything else for you from there. Most arrangements sent to dad will usually come in a keepsake container that he will have for years to come.
Please call or stop by Payne and Morrison Florists in Phoenix, Arizona or visit http://www.payneandmorrison.com/ .

Rose

Roses are the royalty of the flower world. No other flower is so widely accepted and loved. What other flower has not only clubs and societies but also has its own national month, a war named after it and was the symbol of an empire?
Throughout history roses have been loved the world-over. The Greeks have a story that has not just one god creating this flower but several gods and goddesses making it. The Romans imported roses from China and they became a status symbol for the wealthy. They used the petals as confetti, put them into bath water, filled rooms with them to be used like carpets and used them in many other ways including religious ceremonies. Everyone who saw Gladiator remembers all the red rose petals showering down over the arena floor.

England continued this love of roses, they even made it the national symbol. All over America there are Rosevilles, Rosewoods, Roseviews and any other way you can name a town after a rose. America even made June the National rose month.
Today you can buy roses any time of year and in almost any color. An arrangement of all roses in a vase is classic but a few roses also look great as the focal point in a mixed bouquet. Roses are not every girl’s favorite flower but I don’t know of any girl that will complain if they get a beautiful bouquet of roses as a gift.
In honor of June being the national rose month, we at Payne and Morrison Florists in Phoenix, Arizona are offering a discount on all of our roses. Please stop by our shop, call or visit our website http://www.payneandmorrison.com/ to see different styles of rose bouquets.

Dress Up Your Room

Ever pick up one of those home décor magazines, start flipping through and just get discouraged when you see how awesome some houses look inside? I did the other weekend, but flipping page after page, I noticed one thing. The majority of these pictures had flowers in them, from simple centerpieces on tables to huge custom bouquets. No matter how the room featured in the picture was designed, the flowers seemed to add that final touch to the rooms.
Flowers always add an extra element to any room for any occasion. The different types of media know this, not just magazines. Take note of how many times you see flowers in a movie, off in the corner, at the reception desk of a hotel lobby, sitting on the kitchen counter, they are everywhere. Turn on the TV and pay attention to how many times you see flowers in the show you are watching and in the commercials. If the scene takes place indoors the odds are that you will see some floral decoration somewhere in the room.
So, why am I going on and on about how you see flowers in all of these settings? Well it sounds too simple but flowers are the best way to dress up your room. You don’t have to be an interior decorator or spend a fortune to give your home that feel of luxury. Just go down to your local flower shop and take a look at what they have, even talk to one of the designers about what look and color you want, and see what they can come up with.
Please come by Payne and Morrison Florists in Phoenix Arizona or visit us at www.payneandmorrison.com .

Mothers Day Shop Drama

This year we tackled Mothers Day with a refined plan from many past years of going through this holiday. Everything was set up for a smooth Mothers Day week. Monday went great, good orders coming in and awesome team work. Then Tuesday came around. Got to work early and noticed water dripping in one of our coolers, one of the units was icing up. Dealing with this, it took a while to notice the phones were not ringing. Called our phone company with my cell and they let us know that we would see someone out by 2:00. Thank goodness for cell phones, we had the calls forwarded to mine. We still couldn’t receive wires or process credit cards. Right about now I started to see the perfect storm mounting on the horizon, just waiting for the power or water to go out. So after dealing with the phones it was back to the cooler. We moved all the flowers to our back room cooler and had to shut down the front. After a couple of hours it was deiced and we transferred all the flowers back, along with all the new flowers that had come in. All this time we were running out all of our cell phone batteries. Sometime around noon Deanna reminded us all about Mothers day 2003 when the phones went down. That year Dave Payne cut off the tip of his finger and had to leave Deanna in charge while he spent the rest of the day at the emergency room. By the way, Deanna was pregnant and all kinds of smell were setting her off. Back to Mothers day 2009 at Payne and Morrison, the phones were back up by about 1:30 and everyone still had their digits. So half way into the week I hope we got the speed bumps out of the way and it is full speed ahead now.
Stop into Payne and Morrison Florists in Phoenix, Arizona or visit us on the web www.payneandmorrison.com .